discovery mkIII on top gear

[andycook]

Anyone see the MKIII disco on Topgear last night, Clarkson taking it offroad up a hill near Loch Eriboll NW Scotland.
I'd never heard of those land-anchors before, similar to the 'deadmen' we use as belay anchors in snow when ice-climbing, and have no rocks/trees around.
I wonder how a surf/4runner would have got on with that stunt?, as they have no locking diff's (well mine doesnt)

Guess is was a good plug for the disco

(Incidentally - whats the advantage of fitting diff-locks to the front and/or rear axles of a Surf? - surely just putting it into 4wd has same effect, as this locks the centre diff, forcing all wheels to move at same speed, I cant see what people also fit lockers)

[Gtdog]

I thought the most interesting part was the overall weight of the thing, two and a half tonnes is a heck of a lot to drag about, no wonder it got stuck!
Interesting also, I would love to know what vehicle the helpers were traveling in?

Dog

[surffreak]

even in four wheel low the diffs at each end still work so if you loose traction it will still spin but the front or rear will still pull up to a point the point of a diff locker is that it locks the diff and only allows 50/50 split of the power regardless of coing round corners or one wheel not griping.
you could get as much traction from just the rear wheels with a diff locker as you would with a standard in four wheel drive.

[Gamedawn]

Every report I've read says that L***R***r have finally got it right with the D3 and it does work very well off road (mainly thanks to them finally admitting that locking diffs are a good thing). The thing that would worry me, given their assembly skills, is what happens when the electronics start to fall over?

[Kev Makin]

Lr3

I drove the LR3 a few weeks back, we had it to benchmark against various Jags up at Halewood in liverpool. It is a very good vehicle, although in 4.4V8 form very thirsty (15mpg) I still prefer my Surf after owning most of the competition over the years even though I have just pid out over £2000 for an engine rebuild(head etc etc etc ). If LR get the quallity right then they have a winner on their hands. Just as a final thought I was at Solihull last week and had a go of the L320 (Range Rover Sport)....itis an even better car, but they will still have to prove the sceptics wrong over the quality and reliability issues.

[Guest]

The biggest downside I can see for all of the new crop of large 4x4s is the complexity. Unlike the Surf, older LCs etc, after 6 or 7 years when owners want to start taking them off road and modifying them and maintaining them themselves, the chances of this being possible without a fully equipped workshop, computers, special tools etc is completely Nil.

The older vehicles whilst not being so clever can still be worked on as they have fairly basic running gear even when equipped with locking diffs etc.

I would bet a Surf with ARB lockers front and rear and a decent set of tyres could have gone where the LR went, however if anything broke as is going to happen, it could be fixed relatively cheaply by the owner or a backstreet garage.

If anything goes wrong on the Disco 3 or the Rangerover sport or even a new LC or most of the current crop of 4x4s with computer controlled drive systems, you couldn't fix them on the trail or even on your own drive.

About the only brand new 4x4 of that size and ability that can still be fixed easily and doesn't rely heavily on computers is the new model Nissan Patrol. Still an honest and simple truck with no gimmicks just strongly built with the correct things to make it go and be pretty much unstoppable.

Personally I wouldn't buy a 4x4 of later vintage than about 1998 as I like fixing them myself and I don't intend on spending thousands just equipping my workshop.

That's what makes the Surf so damn good, it works, it goes on working generally and it is fixable by a mechanic rather than a computer technician.


Cheers

[marky]

They may well perform ok offroad but how many will you see doing what they were built for, Not a lot!!!!

[TonyN]

I would bet a Surf with ARB lockers front and rear and a decent set of tyres could have gone where the LR went, however if anything broke as is going to happen, it could be fixed relatively cheaply by the owner or a backstreet garage.



That's what makes the Surf so damn good, it works, it goes on working generally and it is fixable by a mechanic rather than a computer technician.


Cheers

My thoughts exactly.

I didn't see the program, to be honest I rarely watch/read car reviews anymore, most testers exagerate pros and cons to suit the mood they are in.

[dirtydog]

My thoughts exactly.

I didn't see the program, to be honest I rarely watch/read car reviews anymore, most testers exagerate pros and cons to suit the mood they are in.

Jeremy Clarkson is an utter legend

[dirtydog]

I thought the most interesting part was the overall weight of the thing, two and a half tonnes is a heck of a lot to drag about, no wonder it got stuck!
Interesting also, I would love to know what vehicle the helpers were traveling in?

Dog

2.7 tonnes he said!!! MADNESS! Heavier than a LC or Nissan Patrol?

[laser_jock99]

Early release Disco MK3's have had some 'reliabilty issues' according to an aquaintance of mine working at Land Rover, Gaydon. The first six (yes six!) vehicles taken as demonstrators by The Landrover Experience (you know- that place where they prove how good these things are to the paying public) all broke down within their first week!!!! In fact one never even made it and broke down while being delivered.

Two things:

Never buy a new model motor. Always give it a few years for the manufacturers to sort out the problems.

Reliability wise the LR3 has got it all to prove as far as I'm concerned....but good luck to them anyway.

Also- THIRD OWNER THEORY will very much apply the LR3- only the third owner of these cars will actualy venture off-road in these cars.

[Guest]

Early release Disco MK3's have had some 'reliabilty issues' according to an aquaintance of mine working at Land Rover, Gaydon. The first six (yes six!) vehicles taken as demonstrators by The Landrover Experience (you know- that place where they prove how good these things are to the paying public) all broke down within their first week!!!! In fact one never even made it and broke down while being delivered.

Two things:

Never buy a new model motor. Always give it a few years for the manufacturers to sort out the problems.

Reliability wise the LR3 has got it all to prove as far as I'm concerned....but good luck to them anyway.

Also- THIRD OWNER THEORY will very much apply the LR3- only the third owner of these cars will actualy venture off-road in these cars.

Not even sure the 3rd owner would dare to take it too far into the rough stuff because of the expense of fixing it if it goes wrong.

All that plastic on the outside..
All those computers on the inside...

I wouldn't be surprised if they don't get scrapped before they ever really venture off road, plus what is the betting that the first mod that anyone does on them is swap the axles and rip out the computer controlled transfer case, stick an old rangerover transfer box in it, pair of air lockers and bring it down to a more sensible and reliable spec.

Cheers

[silvtr1000]

We're all forgetting that it looks like a breadvan.

If I had to drive any other 4WD than a Surf it'd be a '95 - '98 Disco.

If I remember rightly, my '92 one was much more frugal than my current '90 Surf. This is a very important factor when owning a big car like these - as anyone with a wife and 2 kids and an average job will tell you.

I think the Discovery lost it's appeal with the "Series 2" in late '98. For me, anyway...

My mate will be test driving the new one next week. He's a web designer, don't you know...


Mark